Supplement XVI focuses on contemporary writers of fiction, many of whom have received little sustained attention from critics.We also examine the work of several important writers in the tradition of nonfiction—one of those widely used terms that never seems quite specific enough.A number of classic writers are treated here as well.The critics writing in this collection represent a catholic range of backgrounds and critical approaches, although the baseline for inclusion was that each essay should be accessible to the non-specialist reader or beginning student.